Opec's biggest producers in the Persian Gulf are maintaining a strategy that
has sent crude below $46 per barrel

Pressure on oil prices has continued to build after key members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) indicated there would be no let up in the cartel’s strategy of allowing the cost of a barrel to plummet.

Brent crude tested new six-year lows below $46 per barrel on Tuesday after the energy minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a senior delegate among the cartel’s 12 members, said there would be no change in strategy despite the continued slide in the price.

"The strategy will not change," said Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazrouei, speaking in Abu Dhabi. “We are telling the market and other producers that they need to be rational.”

Mr Mazrouei added that it could take years for prices to stablise, adding: “We are passing through very interesting times...it is unlikely that we will see a sudden rise [in oil prices].”

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar form a core of Gulf Arab oil producers who dominate Opec policy due to their overwhelming oil reserves and production capacity. Combined, these four account for almost two thirds of the cartel’s production of around 30m barrels per day (bpd) of crude.

Even a surprise jump in China’s demand for imported oil couldn’t reverse bearish sentiment on the markets. Crude oil imports into China reached a record 7.15m bpd in December, according to official data.

“The lack of any reaction from the market indicates that demand factors play no role at present and that supply is the dominant factor,” said Commerzbank.

However, tensions are mounting within Opec as many of the groups members watch their economies, which depend on $100 oil, head deep into recession. Efforts by Venezuela, which opposed the cartel’s decision in November to keep production levels unchanged, to persuade Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies to change strategy have failed.

Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, said on Tuesday: "If Iran suffers from the drop in oil prices, know that other oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will suffer more than Iran."

Meanwhile in the UK, the falling value of oil has triggered a price war between supermarkets and raised concerns that lower fuel costs could push inflation, now at 0.5pc, further below the Bank of England’s 2pc target.